I did McClellan Butte today, starting from the service road (a rough ride and dusty; I had to wash my car when I got home). I got an early start, leaving the car at 5:30am but I was soon passed by a trail runner and two young hikers who were power-walking up the trail. Me, I am an old guy and I trudge. This trail is steep.
And I got an adrenaline jolt on the way down, when I saw two bear cubs just off the trail scrambling up trees to get away from the clueless human. I am happy to say that mama bear did not show her claws. I did take out the bear spray and, if I do say so, made excellent time the rest of the way down.
One large disappointment: based on the very smoky skies I cancelled my Thursday/Friday camping trip. The air where I was, about 43 miles east of Seattle, was a little harsh. I could see that where I had planned to go, 40-plus miles farther east, was way worse. Global warming is not coming; it is here.
Last week I had lunch with a Boeing friend, another retired old man. He has a distinguished history as a hiker and backpacker and he brought along several hiking guides from the early 1980’s. I checked out the entry for McClellan Butte and noticed that the trail has changed. Back then, the start of the trail was routed differently, and the trail on the west side of the mountain dipped down towards a little tarn and then back up. I have been down to that tarn but I did not know that the decrepit trail there used to be the main trail. And, based upon the old description, I could see the remnants of the old trail not only going down, but going past the tarn and back up. Very cool. The tarn from above:
Not long after you get on the trail from the service road there is a talus field and you can look up and see the goal:
If that seems like a long and steep way, it is. The view in this photo is the east side of the summit. The actual approach is from the west. There is an exposed scramble to the very top but I skip that because a slip leads to certain death.
The track:
